CAIRNS, Australia - Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," was killed Monday by a stingray while filming off the Great Barrier Reef. He was 44.

Irwin was at Batt Reef, off the remote coast of northeastern Queensland state, shooting a segment for a series called "Ocean's Deadliest" when he swam too close to one of the animals, which have a poisonous barb on their tails, his friend and colleague John Stainton said.

"He came on top of the stingray and the stingray's barb went up and into his chest and put a hole into his heart," said Stainton, who was on board Irwin's boat at the time.

Souce: Yahoo.com news

Irwin was one feisty extraordinaire from Down Under - I saw in him a bizarrely fascinating persona not least because he amused me with the endless show of his trade-mark derring-do but more so, by his genuine passion for conservation and bio-diversity.

My sympathy to his family and friends. May his soul rest in peace.

I am his fan............My mother was too. I was really shocked w/ the news. He always played with danger.
May his soul rest in heaven.

R.I.P Steve Irwin. I love ur showww

Very sad NEWS...!!!

May his Soul rest in peace...

It is so tough to deal even with the domesticated Human being in this world, and I wonder how he dealt so skillfully with those wild animals during all these years. Perhaps he found salvage on wild lives than tamed souls...

Poor Guy!!He didn't have to die like that..
I feel SORRY for his family..

I pay my respect to him and my deepest condolences to his family. I always admired his adventurous shows on Animal Planet. He was really obsessive about putting his life in danger to entertain his audience. It’s very sad that he was killed by stingray, which no one ever thought or guessed. His shows were always educational for kids and those who have interests in animals, and he always conveyed a message that all animals, including snakes, should be loved. I still remember one of his shows, in which he grabs a poisonous snake, brings his face near by the snake’s tongue, and tells in his Aussie accent, “look at this ss-nii-ke, isn’t it bee-uu-tiful…”